Friday, September 3, 2010

Emails

I used to like to check e-mail. In the old days, or when I first started using e-mails. The messages were usually greetings and news from friends.
Today, I receive e-mails and they are mostly about communications for work, including volunteer work and job. A new message means new work or instructions. The lines are full of cold words, but nothing personal and warmth. Those facial expressions in text help, but not much. They are still about work.

It makes me think: do we treat others as tools or persons?
We communicate because we need to get works done. "Others" become our tools.
Or, do we communicate because we care about others and care about others knowing what happens on our side? In this case, "others" has relationship with us.

Personal communications have shifted to Facebook, but it seems to be a platform that is too open to public, even with privacy settings. I like to have my personal zone, with my own friends and family. I received two e-mails recently from "others" who have relationship with me as "friends". I feel that I am special by reading the stories of others.

In my opinion, single line texts and photos in Facebook still cannot replace "letters" in electronic format. E-mails still cannot replace the power of physical letters.